lisa baden is working the phones. we start with adam caskey. is the national small order going to get canceled? -- is the nationals home opener going to get canceled? >> i don't expect so. spotty showers. there's nothing on the radar locally right now. but the radar cannot detect the drizzle. you may still need an umbrella early this morning. some showers on the eastern shore right now point lookout in st. mary's county. it's 36 in la plata 37 in stafford. 34 degrees in the district right now. first pitch at 1:05. you need the rain gear throughout the game as there will be spotty showers across the region. 47 is the high temperature. becoming breezy tomorrow with want -- with morning rain.

becoming freezing and warmer. water main break repair on 198 east at 29. i am waiting for call back on that. everything is getting the green light on the dulles greenway and the toll road, 66. heavier volume spotted with travel times in our favor. normal travel times and leaving father hurley boulevard in the rain. there was a press on the inner loop before new hampshire ave. they have consolidated everything to the right shoulder. -- a crash on the inner loop before new hampshire. marc is on normal service. breaking news from prince george's county. a man died after being hit by a train overnight. he was hit by a freight train near the river devastation on the marc camden line.

the tracks were shut down while police investigated. the trains are running on time this morning. it's not clear how the man ended up on the tracks. moammar gaddafi's troops are still advancing over rebel fighters. >> covert help from the white house could be on the way. emily schmidt has the latest. >> good morning. it has been a difficult week for rebels. first they gained ground and now they have had to turn back around. they have lost key towns and the ground this week but they may have picked up something important, new secrets help from the u.s. sources tell abc news president obama has signed a secret presidential finding authorizing covert operations to help the rebels. this finding does not direct arms to be provided to them right now although the president could do so in the future. that would put new focus on who

the rebels are. secretary clinton said this week we simply don't know as much about them as we would like to know. there are reports the cia has already sent in a small group of operatives to libya. rebels are still turning around in retreat. gaddafi's forces have nearly reversed recent rebel games. this afternoon there will be congressional hearings on capitol hill about the u.s. involvement. yesterday there will closed-door briefings to members of congress. they say that officials told them that there's no decision on whether to arm the rebels yet. back to you. >> thank you. a man who lived in fairfax county the last 20 years is now one of the men coordinating the anti-government uprising in libya. khalifa haftr was a top military leader who fell out of favor with gaddafi and then fled to the u.s.

he recently traveled to libya to command the rebel army trying to topple gaddafi. now to the disaster in japan. radiation from a crippled nuclear power plant may be spreading. the u.n. nuclear agency says high levels of radiation were found in a village 25 miles from that facility. that is outside the 19-mile evacuation zone. most of the village residents left, but nearly 100 people stayed behind. d.c. councilman marion barry is driving around in an onregistered vehicle. its license plates has been inactive since last september. -- an unregistered vehicle. he says that he's working to correct the problem and that the tags are from his old car. baseball is back in the district. the washington nationals will begin the season this afternoon with a home game against the

atlanta braves. >> fans will need to bundle up and budget plenty of time to arrive before the opening pitch. brianne carter has a preview. >> good morning. there is a little bit of a drizzle this morning. fans are hoping it will stay that way to allow the remainder of the day. first pitch at 1:05 this afternoon. there's a lot of fan excitement building about this team and about the clean slate that comes with a new season. fans and players are optimistic about what is to come this season. there have been a few changes made to the roster. last night fans got a chance to meet players and coaches and talk about the upcoming season and what lies ahead. if you are coming today, here's what you need to know. metro plans to bring about 20,000 people to and from the game on metro. some trains could be crowded and you should expect standing-room- only on some of those trains. there will be 8-car trains on

the green line to help ease the congestion. plan extra time it to your trip today. we have seen a lot of employees already getting the stadium ready for the fans as they start to arrive later this morning. the nationals will take on the latter breaks. first pitch at 1:05 this afternoon. brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> i hope the game is not postponed because of the weather. >> it should not be. 37 degrees on this thursday. >> still ahead, on the chopping block, a metro's late night rides could become a thing of the past. >> it was late tonight at the white house. michele obama's special message for young women. >> first another check on traffic and weather. we will figure out what is going on with all the police activity. lisa baden

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i am jane davis at the willard inter-continental hotel pennsylvania avenue. we are commemorating the 160th anniversary of the civil war. , and join us this year for the yearlong event. -- come and join us. good morning, washington. winds and heavy rain damaged dozens of homes in mississippi and knocked down trees and power lines in florida. a number of houses and cars were damaged, but no reports of any injuries. time for a check on traffic

and weather every 10 minutes. >> the storms were intense yesterday in the south. >> the storms in the deep south robert -- robbed some of the moisture from it. 36 right now national park in southeast d.c. with gray skies. you can kind of see the washington monument on the right. 36 at national park. mainly in the mid 30's elsewhere. 34 in rockville. 35 in waldorf. 35 in bowie. this afternoon making it to the upper low 40's. first pitch at 1:05, 43 degrees at that time damp and gray. you will need the rain gear. spotty showers, patchy drizzle moving through. not an ideal day for baseball

but i think the game will go on. high temperatures tomorrow around 54. breezy. sunny on the weekend. accident on the beltway near braddock road, but they did not find anything after that was reported. between university boulevard and new hampshire ave all the flies and lights have been consolidated to the right shoulder. so traffic on the inner loop leaving university boulevard. the outer loop looks great from new hampshire avenue around to all across hospital. in great shape is traffic in leesburg and only wet pavement in reston. back to you. >> thank you. one more traffic note. expect major traffic tieups on the doorstep in the northeast beginning april 25. that's street will street down to four lanes between penn street northeast and florida

avenue northeast to allow for rehab on the aging new york avenue bridge. expect delays of up to 30 minutes, delays expected to last two years. coming up, a record-setting home sale. wait until you yhear how much a tycoon pay for his dream house. >> service [ female announcer ]

real fruit smoothies from mccafé are real fruit as in strawberries blackberries blueberries, and bananas which mamas them really delicious. ♪ that's what we're made of. ♪ ♪ welcome back. checking our top stories, a man was struck and killed by a freight train in prince george's county. it happened around midnight near the riverdale station on the marc camden line. the tracks were shut down temporarily. investigators have not said to the man is or how he ended up on the tracks. cia operatives are

reportedly involved in libya. they helped to rescue crew member from the u.s. fighter jet that crashed. this comes as the bubbles lose ground forces loyal to libyan leader gaddafi. former vice-presidential nominee geraldine ferraro will be laid to rest today. a funeral mass in new york city. she died last saturday from a form of blood cancer. she was 75. 6:14. you're being increased at tuscarora high school in frederick after a student was accused of taking a loaded gun to school. school officials say that he did it because he feared retaliation after a fight. some students tell us they believe it was gang-related. yesterday a judge ordered that the teenager to stay in a juvenile detention center at least three weeks. three men in custody in connection with the murder of a pizza delivery man in seat pleasant. ricardo barton, desmond garner and gregg starks are each

charged with first-degree murder and robbery. 38-year-old paul bennett was robbed and shot to death sunday night after delivering pizzas to an apartment on seat pleasant road. late night metro ride could be on track to become a thing of the past. >> the board will meet later today to discuss next year's budget and some we can service is on the chopping block. ben eisler is live outside the clarendon station with what to expect. good morning. >> the late-night service cuts have late-night businesses quite concerned and a number of passengers wondering how they are going to get around. the proposal would eliminate metro service from midnight to 3:00 a.m. on fridays and saturdays. more than 60% of respondents declared late-night service to be a necessity. the move would save metro several million dollars a year and bring the agency one step closer to filling a $72 million budget gap.

it will allow workers enough time to complete renovations. the general manager of admits that metro regularly misses its own performance standards and it will be years before that changes. some riders say there has to be a better way. >> if i don't have another way to get back to my car it will make it harder to do things in d.c. >> people that work use it and people that come downtown, and if they live in the suburbs. >> a public hearing will be required before the board can make changes to service. at meetings where service cuts are on the agenda, they have historically drawn a large turnout. we will keep you up-to-date with the latest. reporting from arlington, ben eisler, abc 7 news. you won't need to recast the next time you park in bethesda. starting today you will be will to use your cellphone to pay for parking at county leaders -- you

will not need cash. they plan to expand this to north bethesda and wheaton and silver spring later. a $100 million house. and good news in recent hiring survey. peggy bunker as those stories and more. >> we begin with big companies ready to step up hiring. in a new survey of the largest companies, 52% plan to increase hiring the in the next six months. that is the highest percentage in nine years. private companies added 201,000 jobs this month. the treasury department says the government has turned a profit on the massive bank bailout launched during the financial crisis. taxpayers have burned $6 billion and can expect that total to rise. many toyota dealers have no toyota prius vehicles left and others are running out. demand is high with gas prices

rising. the earthquake in japan has set back production for weeks. the russian billionaire has paid $100 million for this silicon valley mentioned over 30,000 square feet, one of the highest price tags ever for a single-family house. i am peggy bunker. time for traffic and weather. >> let's talk about the chance we could have the game being cancelled. >> it will be cool and damp with drizzle and light showers but i don't think it will cause a cancellation or delay. players are able to weather the storm. the fans as well. any rain across the metro area? no but we do have drizzle. the radar cannot detect fine drizzle fog reported in some spots. on the eastern shore there are

few hits on the radar screen. overnight hours are now in new jersey and moving into long island. 37 in the district and manassas, 35 in martinsburg, 39 in annapolis along with lexington park. mid to upper 30's to start today. wet roads and some reduced visibility due to the fog and patty drizzle. there's not much action of to our west. a few tdevelopments in the deep south. the upper level energy will make its way to our region later this afternoon and evening. that could be enough to give us a view spotty showers especially by late afternoon into the evening and tapering off by tomorrow morning. not a widespread rain, but spotty showers. i do think it overdoes the rain a little on futurecast. i don't think it'll be this widespread. i do anticipate spotty showers.

a few hits on the radar here and there throughout the evening and overnight. even saturday morning we still have a few isolated showers here and there. the majority of the day on saturday will be dry. more sun signed later in the day possible on saturday. first pitch at 1:05 at 43 degrees with no sunshine. it will be damp and cool drizzly and you need rain gear. mostly cloudy tomorrow morning and highs in the 50's. mid 50's tomorrow with gusty wind. saturday, afternoon sunshine especially into sunday. near 60 by sunday. how is the commute? why is down, georgia avenue south of the icc. that is closed in both directions. let's check out the pace in maryland on the inner loop of the beltway.

that is traffic heading away from us. looks great at toll across hospital. let's go round and look at traffic on the right side of the screen. inner loop at university boulevard. it does not want to go. there we go. i am happy. no delay. i was worried because there's a crash on the inner loop at new hampshire ave. that has been moved to the shoulder. back to you. >> thank you. 6:21 is the time, 36 degrees outside. >> coming up on this thursday, the first lady's words of wisdom for young women. >> today on "oprah," how attitudes oklahoma sexuality have changed over the years 4:00 on abc 7.

the maryland senate voted to increase the state alcohol tax by 3% over the next three years and the legislation includes $9 million in extra funding prince george's county schools. now it goes to the house of delegates. this comes as they begin negotiations on a budget. some encouraging news about retirement. there's a new study by fidelity investments that says a 65-year- old couple retiring this year will need an average of $230,000 to cover medical expenses but that is down from the $250,000

predicted last year. it is committed to the new and health-care reform law. and inspiring night at the white house for more than 100 girls from the d.c. area high- school. >> first lady michelle obama invited them for dinner to celebrate mentoring. the teenagers were. with more than 20 famous and successful women to showcase the benefits of mentoring. >> you might be running the white house sunday. news this time with these women and take full of advantage -- use this time. we are very proud of all of you. >> she encouraged to the teenager -- she encouraged the teenagers to become mentors, themselves. >> very encouraging. still another half-hour of good morning washington. >> coming up, the world's worst

luck a bad decision might have caused a member of a winning lottery pool a shot at $300 million. >> a new secret weapon for the rebels in libya, find out what it does. >> adam caskey in the belfort furniture weather center. whether you're headed to [ computerized

voice ] do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? [ beep ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ beep ] [ whirring ] [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] when did customer service go from above and beyond to just under and short? the world seems to be moving in one direction. we decided not to follow.

>> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- straight ahead it is another sign of spring even though it feels more like winter. today, baseball is back in washington d.c. good morning washington. it is thursday, march 31. i am alison starling. >> good morning. i am pamela brown. we begin with your traffic and weather every 10 minutes.

adam has the first check on the forecast. what do we have for the home opener? but it will be a great day cool. dressed in layers. -- >> it will be a great day cool. dress in layers. there'll be some light rain living off of the shore. we have some patchy drizzle and patchy fog. temperatures in the 30's for the most part. winchester is at 35. spotsylvania you're at 38. 44 degrees around first pitch. showers developing in the afternoon and evening as the upper-level pressure moves in. tomorrow will be gusty. saturday will have late days on. -- late-day sun. there is a stalled car on

the roadway near the exit for seventh street. leaving pennsylvania avenue or south capitol street to have gone to 395 south that broken- down vehicle will add to your drive. wires down on georgia avenue north of the icc south of new hampshire ave. a crash on 28 in virginia, northbound on the ramp that would take you eastbound on to the dulles green line -- green way. more to come in the geico traffic center. now to news. >> we are following breaking news from judge -- prince george's county where a man was struck and killed by a freight train near the riverdale marc station. the tracts were temporarily shut down while police investigated. there is no word on who the man

is or how he got on to the tracks. it is 6:31. there are new developments from libya. nato has taken over full command of all air operations. >> there are reports that cia operatives are in libya now. emily schmidt has the details. >> rebels are outnumbered and outgunned by muammar gaddafi's forces. more rebels' support may come from outside. >> the broader question of support from outside is one that we're looking at closely. >> there are reports that president obama has authorized covert operations to help the rebels. it does not direct arms to be provided to them now, though the president could make the decision to do so in the future. there is new focus on those fighting gaddafi. >> our history of farming those we do not know has not been terribly good -- of arming knows who we do not know has not been

terribly good. >> even with diplomatic back up the rebels are losing ground. their military spokesman says, from a tactical point of view, they prefer to retreat. gaddafi's forces have now nearly reversed recent rebel gains. lawmakers received closed-door briefings yesterday. officials told them that there have been no decisions yet. emily schmidt, abc 7 news, washington. turning out to the disaster in japan. radiation levels in the ocean near the crippled nuclear power plant are rising. there are reports of high radiation levels in a village 25 miles away from that facility. the u.n. nuclear agency says those levels are far above the threshold for an evacuation. a maryland base unit is on its way to japan to help respond to the crisis.

the chemical biological response force is expected to arrive on friday. team is based at the indian head naval service workers and their and is trained in -- warfare center and is trained in these things. now to news on the hill -- vice-president joe biden says there is good progress in talks aimed at avoiding a government shutdown. he says that they are working on a plan to get $73 billion from this year's budget -- cut $73 billion from this year's budget. they are optimistic that a deal can be reached by next friday. the house voted yesterday to reinstate the school voucher program. congress begin phasing out the program in 2009. house speaker john boehner introduced a bill to bring it back and increase the annual voucher to up to $12,000 per student. former d.c. schools

chancellor michelle rhee is commenting on allegations of cheating on standardized tests at some area schools. high-scoring schools havend unusually high ratios. she says that she believes that a majority of teachers and administrators would never falsified test results but she says test security procedures should be improved. fairfax county schools may change their disciplinary policy after the suicide of a student who was suspended. they are recommending better notification of parents whose child's are being considered for suspension or expulsion. he was to provide audio recordings of disciplinary hearings. he also wants to have principles have more authority for punishing students. looking at the day ahead -- time to wake up the bats. the gnats kick off this season against the atlanta braves --

nats kickoff this season against the atlanta braves. fans are excited for the year ahead. brianne carter is live with a look ahead. >> excited and optimistic. it feels more like football season than it does the start of baseball season today. fans are ready for the baseball season to get under way. last night hundreds flocked here to gnats -- nats park for fan fest. they watched the players warming up. they got to meet and greet some of the players and coaches. they are excited after spring training. they are ready to see what the future holds for this team. some changes have been made to the roster. they are ready to play ball. here is what some of the players had to say about opening day. >> i really did not know what to expect but all signs look really good. i am just going to keep plugging away. hopefully, at the end of the

day, i will be back sometime soon. >> we are optimistic. we start with a clean slate. last year was last year. you have a chance to prove yourself enjoy -- yourself and show people what you can do. >> stephen strasburg has been in rehab. we expect he will be back in august. we have tipoff today for the very first day of baseball season here in washington. the nats will take on the atlanta braves at 1:05. we have some drizzle out here. fans are hoping it will stay that way as we head toward the first pitch. >> you are there nights and early. -- nice and early. get your seat early. >> i would just line up for my hot dog now.

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it is 6:40, time for traffic and weather every 10 minutes. let's check in with of -- doug hill live in calvert county. >> i am convinced it is crystal clear outside and 70 degrees going up to 80 degrees. that is what i am thinking, but that is not going to happen. it is going to be a drizzly day. look at temperatures. our average height temperature is in the 40's -- high temperature is in the 40's. we are in the 30's right now. temperatures will climb, but only so much. the average height of 61, we will only make it to the mid to upper-40's. there will be. some drizzle all day, maybe some -- perioods of the result all day, maybe some -- and there will be periods of drizzle all

day. we will see improvement tomorrow into the weekend. it is great and damp -- gray and damp isolated showers highs in the mid-40's. i will have more in just a couple of minutes. >> see you in just a few. >> lisa baden, it is your turn. how are the roads looking? >> we had wires down in sundown, maryland, south of new hampshire avenue. we'll go to a couple of cameras to give you a glimpse of the pace in the rain. 395 northbound slowing from the beltway past duke street, good at washington boulevard. maryland traffic started off on a rough notes but improving. the inner loop crash at new hampshire avenue is on the shoulder. look at the outer loop camera. there is slowing at 270 but not too bad at falls road.

when you go to the balding, you eat peanuts -- ballgame a. people throw them on the ground -- ballgame you eat peanuts. people throw them on the ground. i cannot deal with that. [laughter] it is 36 degrees. >> coming up the government shut down showdown. we have a look at the last- minute wheeling and dealing. sometimes you wait an hour for a cab when they said it will be there in 20 minutes. >> why the

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a growing controversy for taxicab customers and drivers -- the district wants to cut the city's fleet in half. another are about 8000 in d.c. -- >> there are about 8000 taxicabs in d.c. they want to cut that to about 4000. in a city where many residents do not have cars, taxicabs are an essential part of getting around. >> if you are leaving a club at 3:00 a.m., i would never take the metro. >> hailing a cab is never easy, especially at night and in certain parts of town. >> and have trouble catching a cab in the anacostia -- i have trouble catching a cab in anacostia. >> cabs would be assigned to different parts of the city. they have proposed a bill which would cut the fleet in half. thomas says that would still

benefit riders. >> it helps those individuals who own cabs. they can have a better value and better service. there is a cost factor. >> cabdrivers' disagree. >>rivals on both sides of the issue are expressing concerns. many riders agree the need for cabs is only rising. >> in georgetown, i have no problem. i could be dressed anyway. if i am in columbia heights, i have to be wearing a suit. >> the $1 charge now covers trips to and from maryland and virginia. the city says the surcharge will remain in place until july 27. we have some sobering statistics about pedestrian and bicycle crashes in the district.

there are an average of three accidents per day in d.c. the overall number increased from 25% between 2009 and 2010. 83 pedestrians and cyclists and died on the region's roads last year -- and cyclists died on the region's roads last year. we turn to our "politico minute." >> we have all the details. thank you for being here with us. >> there has been a lot of wheeling and dealing going on. it seems like we have some encouraging news. >> we have been talking about spending gridlock for months. it seems like we will have a way to avoid a government shutdown. next friday, i could be saying something totally different. last night, vice president biden went up to the bill, at the negotiation with democrats and republicans. he came out and said that they

had an agreement on a number in terms of the amount of the cuts. $73 billion to the cost of -- in cuts to the federal government this year. there have been pretty wide discrepancies. this is in between. that is good news. it is not a done deal. on capitol hill, they like to say they do not have an agreement until they have an agreement on everything. they now have to figure out where that that comes from i. that's where the devil is in the details. >> republicans and democrats do not even agree with each other. there are fractures within the parties themselves. >> there are plenty of internal fights. the democrats are somewhat divided. liberals think that they should not cut any of these domestic programs. on the right, within the republican party while their leaders are making deals with their democrats, the tea-party

driven folks this freshmen calss, -- class these 87 folks they might say that $33 billion is not enough. there is a rally with the tea party today. they will be saying, cut more, do not compromise with democrats. there is a lot of pressure on that side. >> ongoing saga. 6:50 is your time. let's go to traffic and weather every 10 minutes. >> doug hill is standing by with a look at your weather. it is more like football with a bang than baseball -- football weather than baseball. >> that's right. haze and fog chilly temperatures. 32 degrees there.

86 degrees outside nationals apart. it is a chilly -- 36 degrees outside nationals park. it is a chilly, drizzly day. we have mist. 37 in riverdale but played a 36. showers have moved off to the northeast. not much to detect. the droplets are too small to be detected by doppler radar. we may get showers or light rain late into the night and tomorrow morning. we will catch a break in the afternoon tomorrow. drizzled this morning. maybe a few showers this afternoon. definitely chilly. well below the average high. to upper-30's tomorrow. we will see sunshine developed in the afternoon. 54 degrees in the afternoon.

i will take it. adam caskey back in a couple of minutes. maybe i will see you out at national park -- nationals park. we had a crush on the inner loop near 66, now on the right side -- crashed on the inner loop near 66 now on the right side. maryland boo 665 and 50 west, crash right at the decision point for i-97. back with

the deal of these twin babies is taking the world by -- video of these twin babies is taking the world by storm. see them this morning on "good morning america." >> i cannot get enough of those babies. can you imagine on just missing out on a piece of a $319 million lottery ticket? >> 7 office workers are holding tickets. an 8th worker skipped it. the owner said that he opted out because he was not feeling lucky. the winners will be at a news

conference later today. we will find out if they are good friends or not. >> they have enough to go around. we will get a quick look at traffic and weather. we will go directly to this camera on northbound 95. that is out of newington. we had a crash on the inner loop 66. now we have one on the outer loop near telegraph road. maryland traffic, less than desirable through annapolis, 50 west annapolisi-97 c -- 50 west annapolis the -- 50 west, i-97, crash at the decision point. >> it is going to be cool. have your rain here ready. breezy tomorrow. warmer in the 50's. i have confidence for sunshine

on saturday. >> thank you. blue diamond almonds! more bold flavor! more variety! more value! more of what you want... not what you don't. blue diamond almonds. (play-by-play announcer) it's up and it is... good! more than a snack.

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